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[nick / name]: remus
[personal LJ name]: stopping
[other characters currently played]: N/A!
[e-mail]: lovely_revulsion [at] yahoo [dot] com
[AIM / messenger]: remukebb

[series]: Vassalord
[character]: Johnny Rayflo
[character history / background]: The wiki is wholly ineffectual, so here’s a pretty brief summary of his actions through the manga!

From hints that the mangaka has given us, we can tell Johnny to be at least 500 years old. It has recently been revealed that he was a knight, presumably from the Middle Ages. It's unknown precisely what year, if any, nor at what age he became a vampire. Whatever the case, he was badly defeated in a fight, his lord's castle seeming to have been overtaken. Defeated, he accepted a proposition from the victor, or some wandering demon: an offer to become stronger if he would curse himself and deny his humanity. From what we've been given, it can be assumed that after making the deal and changing into a vampire, he went into a bloodlust and killed the majority, if not all, of the people in his village. And his history there fades into more uncertainty, interwoven with an incubus/demon/thing named Barry, and a child-turned-vampire whom he served as her knight, calling her his princess. It's unknown whether or not she was the princess he served as a knight, though it can be assumed so: from the flashback panels, we can see her hiding with a lady-in-waiting. The only thing we know for certain is that he was a priest at the time of her vampiric death/preservation.

Cue some years later, after bombs and unpleasant weapons had been invented [again, the amount of time has not been specified], he met a young boy wandering through a destroyed church while feeding on some corpses. Fine way to meet people, that: lounging back against a tomb with a bleeding limb in hand. He tried to scare the boy off by saying that he'd eat him, to which the boy replied with a grumble in his stomach. Johnny was amused by the response and adopted him. Sort of. He took care of the boy, feeding him on whatever meager human food he could find and clothing him, keeping him alive as best he could, but it wasn't enough. Even though the boy was happy and seemed to be infatuated with him, it didn't change the fact that the child was emaciated and like as not going to die if not given proper human care. So, Johnny took him to a town that was well populated and relatively untouched by war, and left him at the church after naming him Chris. After that, he vanished from the boy's life.

Later on, presumably twenty some years later, he had become a priest at whatever city Chris had come to, and yet another war had broken out. Chris was mortally injured in the fighting, and after pleading with Johnny that he didn't want to leave his side [gasp, homosexuals in the clergy!], Johnny then turned him into a vampire, thereby making Chris his vassal. Johnny has since left the priesthood and Chris [also known as Charley or Cherry] has begun to work for the Vatican as a cybernetic vampire hunter. Somehow, he turned himself into a robot. We're not sure how, but it boggles the mind. It is unclear when they come into his history, but a few ghosts from his past include Marie, the little girl who refers to Johnny as her knight; Rayfell, another vampire who looks exactly like him, just female; and Barry, a demon with an unhealthy and violent obsession with Johnny, with whom he shares "meals" [i.e., drinking Barry's blood to sustain himself, Barry drinking his blood, and then mutilating him during sex]. Rayfell, it's been revealed, is Johnny's clone, created much the same way as Eve from Adam, and Barry has been there from the start, though whether the start of his vampiric life or before is unknown.

Johnny and Charley have since begun living together, after a period of time where Charley spent lots and lots of time away from him, only ever coming back to feed. This is where the manga actually begins. On long distance trips, Charley would bring Johnny with him as a bag lunch, the meanie. Things were peaceful, going on Chris' assignments together when possible, until Barry discovered Johnny's whereabouts, after he'd been on the run from him for only the creator knows how long. Travesties happened, and Johnny decided to leave Charley, in order to keep him safe, though apparently, somehow, he still kept watch over him. Charley went on a mission to Italy to help a detective, Craig, and a shotabaitlittle boy named Hal, and Johnny appeared there to refuel him and rescue him from an impossible-seeming situation before disappearing once again. They meet up again during Carnivale, in Venice, when Johnny sends him a ticket, mask, and outfit to wear to an opera, which Barry is also conveniently attending. Sexytiems are had, and after some quoting Phantom of the Opera at each other like the adorable fruitbats they are, the two of them run off, only to have Johnny enclosed in a swarm of bats not his own and dragged away from Charley, down into the sewers. After climbing back up to ground level and stopping Charley from possibly falling in with Barry and damning himself, he says some Bible verses that cause Barry to kind of..melt, Chris brandishing a cross at him, and Barry explodes.

An epic battle between Rayflo's vassal and master ensues, during which Chris loses part of his arm and Barry just laughs. Eventually, knowing that the risks include losing his life, Johnny recites the scripture that reveals the name of the demon that provides Barry's power; this is the way to strip him of that power and defeat him. Cherry deals the finishing blow, finishing where Johnny cannot, and Barry vanishes. The two are left with Johnny's organs trying to forcefully remove themselves, eventually collapsing, and a group of people come to answer Cherry's impassioned pleas for help. The deal is that Cherry has to work for them and do as they say, and they'll heal Rayflo. He agrees, and after an undisclosed amount of time, it cuts to Rayflo waking up in what appears to be a dayroom. The shota from before makes his appearance, revealing that he isn't who he claims to be, and this is where the chapter ends.

[character abilities]:

☆ Changing into a bat/cloud of bats - fairly self-explanatory.
☆ Accelerated healing
☆ Some weird....whip-like thing - it's unclear where he pulls this from, but it's small enough to fit into his pocket.
☆ Can apparently freeze/unfreeze himself and other things, though it's never actually witnessed in the manga.
☆ Has more blood than anyone in the world. )8 - NOT REALLY lmfoasdkjfle but he does have to provide for Cherry and still manages to move and do stuff on his own. He subsists mainly by eating from blood packs!
☆ Doesn't actually get dressed; can shift energy into clothing - how handy!
☆ Can..summon/create maids from his blood... >>;;

[character personality]: Johny is a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a cloak pretending to be the most homosexually straight vampire on the face of the earth. He acts nonchalant, aloof, and oh-so-gay, but only one of those is not a ploy. In his past, Johnny was a knight, loyal and kind, and he's retained some of that over the years. He's still quite chivalrous, a gentleman through and through. He's polite, well-spoken, and is usually pretty flirtatious and genial with everyone around him. It would seem that he's just an easygoing, cheerful guy, ready and willing to just go with whatever life throws at him, but that's not quite true. Despite the way he presents himself, he does try to do what is necessary to keep himself and those important to him [read: Cherry~ ♥] safe. For a good long while, that involved avoiding the hell out of Barry, canceling their "dinners", and just generally hiding out from him. Because really, no one poses a bigger threat than he. Barry has the power to destroy everything around Johnny, and thanks to the contract that binds him, Johnny can't do anything to stop it, save buy a little time in the form of a hand through his chest. He knows how insane, possessive, and violent Barry is, has lived with it for far too long, and it's something he's tried to keep Charley safe from.

Speaking of whom, Charley, sweet little Chris, his precious Cherry, has somehow wormed himself into his heart like the most disgusting of heartworms ever since that fateful day back in the graveyard. It's unclear exactly why Johnny decided to make him into a vampire; from canon evidence, he's thoroughly against any and all instances of taking fresh, human blood, even more so against creating more vampires, even going so far as to subsist off of blood packs after he ditches Barry for Cherry. He sees him as a son, or perhaps something a little more; Charley's safety is more important than his own, having tried his hardest to keep Barry from discovering his existence and leaving him to go back to Barry once he does find out. It's his own backwards way of protecting him; if Barry doesn't think Cherry matters to him so much, then he should have no interest in him and so won't hurt him. He loves him, that much is certain. Cherry is near and dear to his heart, and he expresses it by ceaselessly taunting and teasing him, calling him all manner of strange nicknames and making fun of him whenever possible. He acts somewhat impish around him, letting the cool demeanor slip away; possibly, this is a ploy to drive him even more insane, but it seems to be his way of showing that he knows that he can be as he wants with Chris, that he knows he's safe and with good company. But he takes what Charley says to heart, puts his full belief and trust in him. In fact, Charley may or may not be the only one he does trust so much.

He is, as mentioned, an obscene flirt, even when he doesn't necessarily feel it. For example, chapter three, regarding Miranda Segal. Upon the discovery of a time bomb on the plane they're on, he demands that all passengers be buckled, and that they land at the nearest airport immediately. Concerned for the safety of those around him; he does still treasure human life very much, despite his being a creature that by all rights feeds on it. He, Charley, and Miranda leap out of the plane to keep the bomb from killing everyone else [not so much by her own choice, but eh], and as soon as she wakes up, is consumed by a bloodlust. He tells Chris that vampire or not, she's still a lady, and you must always treat a lady right. And after she wakes up and comes to her senses later in a hotel room, he proceeds to flirt and smooth-talk her, even though he's secretly dying on the inside. Literally. Begging for Cherry to save him and all. One might ask why, if he wasn't interested in her, did he flirt to the point that she kissed him and wanted to "go all the way" SOB CHERRY WHERE ARE YOU with him? Well. Being a gentleman, as he puts it.

About Barry, Rayfell, and Hal; if not pure, undistilled hatred, then he has a strong, strong dislike towards Barry. Barry is the embodiment of the demon that Johnny made the deal with, some sort of incubus that has a penchant for sadism and humiliation that Johnny seemingly cannot escape from. In the beginning, apparently he used to live with Barry and Rayfell, and though Johnny would run, he was always found. So it seems that, at the beginning of the manga, before eloping with Cherry, they had scheduled "dinners" from time to time, though that ceased after eloping. He thinks Barry to be disgusting, a sick son of a bitch who should go back to the Hell from whence he came. Rayell isn't greeted with quite so much vitriol, though it's safe to say that they aren't on the best of terms. They tolerate each other, even worked together on the case that introduced she and Cheryl to their male counterparts, and obviously share the same face. But where she enjoys Barry's company, he doesn't, and even though she was created of him, he doesn't see her as a part of him at all. She is her own separate being. If she's a kind of skanky lesbo, that's her prerogative, not his, and she can take it elsewhere. Hal is..a special case. Johnny seems to like children, being just as kind to them as he is to women and probably the elderly. But, as he says in the manga, Hal feels different, like a vampire, but not quite. It puts him off, makes him act somewhat colder. He's not sure what to make of the kid, and he doesn't trust him because of it. [SPOILER: It’s made apparent in chapter 18, however, that Johnny’s inherent dislike for Hal is because he bears a striking resemblance to Johnny himself when he was a child; whether or not this will play a bigger part in the series is unknown just yet.]

Despite being the cheery, kind, suave person he puts himself off as, he's still incredibly secretive. The only people who seem to truly know him are Barry and Rayfell, and even then, they don't know all there is to know about him. Cherry knows only the side of him that he's seen: the almost overbearing, protective, somewhat irritating man; he has no idea of Johnny before that, and Johnny is happy to keep it that way. In the right situations, he has a sort of quiet desperation that he tries to hide, and though he tries to play everything off as a joke, he can still be wounded by things that are said in jest to him. He tends to keep his own agendas, though they aren't anything that could hurt anyone, and can be selfish from time to time, i.e. near-abandoning Chris in order to stave off Barry. He does what he thinks to be right, and doesn't often see the need to explain his actions; they're enough for him, a way to keep those close to him safe, and so it's fine with him.

[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Chapter 19, after he wakes up and figures out that [SPOILER: Hal looks like him as a kid.]

[journal post]:

[ the first thing the camera picks up is a man, looking like he’s been asleep for a little too long but no worse for the wear. there are bandages around his neck, electric nodes attached to the skin of his chest, and he’s wearing a robe -- an escaped hospital patient?

but he grins, salutes a little. ]

Yo. Looks like Dorothy’s not in Kansas anymore. Any kind munchkins want to help show her the way to the Yellow Brick Road? Also taking applications for a Scarecrow and a Cowardly Lion, but I’m afraid the role of Tin Man has been taken.

[ and he pauses, looking just a little lost there before he starts smiling again. ]

How mean, Cherry. First you leave your father in a home, and now you’ve abandoned him in some strange place. I’m not feeling the love here~

[ then he gets sighs, a little more serious as his hand falls away. maybe murmuring to himself as he glares off into the middle distance. more like looking around for any sign of a certain someone, but it’s obvious he doesn’t see him. ]

If this is a plot of yours, Wayne, we’re going to have to have a talk. Keep your grubby mitts off him. I don’t even want to think about that bastard having anything to do with this...

[ but he remembers that he’s trying to ask for help, snapping out of it, and looking back down at the camera. that genial smile comes back. ]

Heh, my bad. Anyway, anyone wanna help an old man out? I’ll make it worth your while~

[ and it shuts off. ]


[third person / log sample]:

The first thing he noticed upon waking was that it was dark. A low chuckle in the back of his throat, and Johnny closed his eyes again. It figured; if Wayne could create a room with artificial sunlight, why shouldn’t it follow the hours of the day accordingly? The smell of crushed grass, open air—

And none of the stagnation of a man’s sickroom.

Strange. Even if he was a vampire, it didn’t change the fact that he’d been out of commission for a while, and no matter how talented Wayne was with his fakes, the whole place just smelled different. That was a little unsettling, and he heaved a sigh as he woke up. Paused with a hand running through dark hair as he sat up, looked around.

Huh.

He definitely hadn’t fallen asleep outside the confines of the room (couldn’t even get past them, really) and more than that, he was pretty sure that it had been a copse of trees outside and darkness beyond that. Not...what looked like an entire city. The Woodsley Corporation might have been one of the biggest, but there wasn’t any way Wayne could afford something like this, was there? An entire city underground, that he could control the weather over? Not likely. No idea of the time, either, and Johnny was glad he hadn’t woken up in daylight, at least. Funny wake-up call that would be, turning into sand. It wasn’t an experience he wanted to feel again: stabbed through the gut by a thick iron rod (Cherry really wasn’t going to ever live that one down) and held in the arms of his beloved son as the sun came up. It had hurt like hell, yeah, and it definitely wasn’t something he’d recommend. But that brought an important question to mind, and he felt a chill creep over him.

Where was Chris? This sure as hell didn’t look like Wayne’s place, and he was perfectly fine with that. But if Cherry wasn’t here, then where was he? And maybe it was important that he figure out where he himself was, but he couldn’t help being worried for his son. Even if Barry had been defeated, he didn’t trust Wayne. He’d known there was something fishy about the kid from the start, but this was pushing it just a little, and keeping his son away from him definitely wasn’t winning him any brownie points.

So Johnny stood and dusted himself off, bitterly satisfied at seeing the grass stains on the clean robe he’d been given. Hey, any slight against the ones who wronged him, right? A weight in his pocket caught his attention, and he slipped a hand in to check it out.

Huh. Alice fell down the rabbit hole, and woke up with a brand new cell phone...thing. Weird gifts from the White Rabbit (should he really call the brat that? if anything, he’d be more like the caterpillar: all full of riddles and sharing the answers to none; and he wasn’t so sure he minded crushing the kid underfoot like an insect) but he wasn’t complaining. Technology was always a good sign, and maybe it held some clues. Maybe he could find Cherry with it, and figure out how to get out of here. Never mind what he was going to do about Wayne’s little research lab (even if it was thanks to them that he was still alive); what was important was finding out where he was, where his son was, and getting the hell away.

A look up at the sound of approaching footsteps, and hey, maybe he could get some help after all. He smiled as a woman in a red sweater came into view, keeping a respectful distance and trying not to seem like a creep. He needed help, please don’t be scared—

“Excuse me, Little Red Riding Hood?” A grin, unable to help the tease, and he bowed just a little. The picture of an (albeit mostly unclothed) unassuming gentleman, and he hoped she wouldn’t just run off in the other direction. “I promise you, I’m no Big Bad Wolf, but I could use some help from a lovely lady.” Hands up to show that he had no weapons, and maybe she seemed just a little less wary of him? She kept her distance, though, and he couldn’t blame her for that.

“What do you want?”

A somewhat kind smile. “I’m lost and looking for my son. Could you tell me where we are?” And he paused, held out his new cell phone. “And how exactly this thing works? An old man like me just can’t keep track of the new technology these days.”

Her eyes went wide, and she seemed to relax. Huh. That was a strange reaction. “Oh, you’re one of those. C’mere, old man. I’ll show you what to do.”

One of “those”, huh? Interesting. At least maybe now he’d get a few answers, right?